matimilstein:

Through the Looking Glass

The Mexican city of Juarez as seen through a bullet-pocked protective barrier from the American side of the international border. Ciudad Juarez has been plagued by drug-related violence and thousands of murders over the past several years.

In the past four years, more than 3,000 policemen and soldiers have been killed by the cartels.

The debate about the Mexican drug war has to be linked to the debate on the American drug policy

— On today’s Fresh Air, journalist Ioan Grillo traces how Mexico came to dominate drug trafficking, how it spread throughout the country and how the drug cartels have radically transformed the area along the U.S.-Mexican border.

If you legalize marijuana, for example, would it affect drug cartels? It certainly will affect the cartels.

— Since 2006, 40,000 people have been murdered in Mexico as drug cartels battle each other and the Mexican military. Journalist Ioan Grillo traces how Mexico came to control drug trafficking in El Narco.